Inner Strength

This week’s Parsha is mostly focused on the life of Yitzchok Avinu, and spans over eighty years, from his marriage to Rivka through the Brachos he gave his sons towards the end of his life. Being that there is very little that we know about Yitzchok’s life specifically, and almost all that we do know is contained in this Sedra, it is important to try to gain as much as we can from each incident that is mentioned, so that we may truly live as Binei Yitzchok.

After the Torah tells us about the birth of Yaakov and Esav, their development as people, and their subsequent dealings over the Bechorah, the Passuk returns to the story of Yitzchok’s life, telling us: “VaYehi Ra’av BaAretz Milvad Hara’av HaRishon Asher Haya Bimei Avraham.” There was a famine, as there had been in the time of Avrohom, and Yitzchok intended to follow in the ways of his father and seek refuge in Mitzrayim. Hashem, however, instructed him to stay in Eretz Yisroel, “Gur B’Aretz HaZos” and promised that Yitzchok and his offspring would be granted the Brachos that had been promised to Avrohom.

Yitzchok of course heeded the Dvar Hashem, and stayed in Geror. A few Pessukim later we are told that he indeed received bountiful Bracha, including produce and flocks, “B’Aretz HaHi, BaShana HaHi”. Rashi explains that he was successful and received this Bracha even though it was a year of famine, when the earth would ordinarily not be prime for bounty.

There are, however, a few details of these Pessukim that require explanation.

First, the Torah tells us that Yitzchok received a Bracha that was Me’ah Sheraim, that is, that his fields yielded one hundred times the amount that they should have. Rashi and others explain that Yitzchok knew how much his field should have grown, and therefore how many times over that number was exceeded, because he had to know how much Ma’aser was required.

Why are we told about Yitzchok’s need to Cheshbon for Ma’aser? Anyone who has a field knows approximately how much it should yield, and would know if he had exceeded that volume one hundredfold—why must Chazal make mention of the fact that Yitzchok knew his field’s potential because of Ma’aser?

Also, the Passuk uses an interesting terminology to refer to Yitzchok Avinu in this case: “VaYigdal HaIsh”, which literally means “and the man grew”, referring obviously to his riches rather than he himself. The word “Ish”, however, seems out of place: why does the Torah refer to Yitzchok in such a distant, impersonal, way? Everywhere else he is mentioned by name—why here is the generic word “Ish” used?

In addition, if we take a step back, there appears to be a question regarding the time it took for Yitzchok to receive this Bracha as well: before mentioning his success, the Torah first tells us about an encounter that Yitzchok had with Avimelech, the ruler of Geror.

When Yiztchok and Rivka settled in Geror they told anyone who asked that they were brother and sister, so that the locals would not be tempted to kill Yitzchok in an attempt to win over Rivka. When Avimelech found out that Rivka was actually married to Yitzchok he became upset, because someone may have acted improperly based on the false information. Nonetheless he instituted a law, punishable by death, that no one is to harm either Yitzchok or Rivka. It is only after this story that we are told of the immense Bracha that Yitzchok received, as described above.

When Hashem spoke to Yitzchok, however, it sounds as though the Bracha would be immediately forthcoming—why do we not learn of the Kiyum of these Brachos, with Yitzchok’s increase in wealth, until after the story with Avimelech? The intervening time does not seem to have been insignificant, as the Pasuk tells us: “VaYehi Ki Archu Lo Sham Hayamim” indicating that quite a bit of time had passed before Yitzchok and Avimelech spoke. Why was the fulfillment of the promise, the Kiyum of the Bracha, seemingly suspended?

There is a Medrash Tanchuma in Parshas Behaloscha that can help us answer this last question, and may in fact allow us an insight into the message of our Parsha.

The Medrash there teaches us a Klal: Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not elevate a person, or bestow Bracha upon him until he is first tested. There are several examples cited, including Yitzchok Avinu, who Chazal tell us was tested “Biyimei Avimelech”, and becuase he withstood the Nisayon was given the Bracha of “Vayimtzah B’Shana HaHu Me’ah Shearim.”

Based on this Medrash we can understand why the Havtacha that Hashem gave Yitzchok only came true after the episode with Avimelech: it was only once Yitzchok was Omed B’Nisayon that he could receive the Birchas Hashem. The intervening time, the Archu Lo Sham Hayamim , was to allow for the Nisayaon to take place so that Yitzchok could receive the Bracha.

But we must then understand the nature of Yitzchok’s Nisayon. The Pessukim don’t seem to indicate any sort of real danger during Yitzchok’s time in Geror. In contrast, when Avrohom went to Mitzrayim, Sarah was actually taken to the house of Pharoah. Here, Yitzchok said that Rivka was his sister, but she was never taken away. What then was the Nisayon that Yitzchok withstood such that he was then Zoche to the Brachos that Hashem promised him?

Perhaps if we explore the nature of Yitzchok, his very essence, we can better understand his Nisayon.

As we know, each of the Avos stood for a particular Middah, which he not only exemplified throughout his own life, but also imbued in each and every one of us: Avrohom represents the Middah of Chesed, Yitzchok the Middah of Gevurah and Yaakov the Middah of Emes. While Chesed and Emes are readily understood, Gevurah is sometimes a little more difficult to express and identify.

R’ Shimshon Pincus, however, looks at the life of Yitzchok and through that lens defines the Middah of Gevurah. He explains that in some ways the Gevurah of Yitzchok stands diametrically opposed to the Chesed of Avrohom. Whereas Chesed builds, as the Passuk tells us “Olam Chesed Yibaneh”, Gevurah is defined by inhabiting that which is already existing. Avrohom personified Chesed and that required him to go out and interact with people, to attempt to bring them Tachas Kanfei Hashechina, in order to build the world.

Yitzchok, on the other hand, stayed in his own Daled Amos. He never looked to affect change, but rather existed in the world that was given to him. This application of Gevurah stems from a total and complete Hisbatlus to the Ratzon Hashem: in Yitzchok looked at the world as a representation of the Ratzon Hashem, and therefore accepted any circumstance or situation without question or vacillation. This, for example, is why Yitzchok would have been willing to give the Brachos to Esav—though he would have preffered that Yaakov receive the Brachos, he assumed that the Ratzon Hashem was for Esav to receive them as he was the actual Bechor, and if Hashem did not want him to receive those Brachos he would have been born second. Though we may have viewed the circumstances differently, there was no room in Yitzchok’s world for his own feelings in the face of the apparent Ratzon Hashem.

R’ Shimshon explains that although we assume that Gevurah refers to acting in a strong, perhaps resolute, manner, Yitzvhok typified this Middah because his total commitment to the Retzon Elyon is an expression of the Gevuros Hashem. Yitzchok lived in a world defined not by his own desires and interests, but by that which the Gibor V’Rav Koach set into motion.

With this in mind, we can understand the Nisayon that Yitzchok faced in Geror: he was forced to live in the world of action. He understood that his presence in Geror would attract attention, and had to make plans to avoid a potential disaster concerning Rivka. This alone was contrary to the essence of Yitzchok: he was accustomed to living in the world presented to him without and need to adapt himself or his actions to alter that reality. In this case he had to present a front of sorts, a cover story that was untrue, in order to prevent nature from running its course. It was this Nisayon that he withstood, without questioning the Darchei Hashem, and was therefore Zoche to be Mekabel the Brachos that Hashem had promised him.

It seems that the Torah also tells us that part of his success in this Nisayon is that Yitzchok did not let this experience change him, or alter his character in any way.

As we mentioned, Chazal go out of their way to tell us that Yitzchok only knew how much his fields produced because of his requirement to give Ma’aser. This is a validation of the fact that the riches and Brachos that Yitzchok acquired made no difference to him other than their use in his Avodas Hashem. He accepted the Brachos as part of the Ratzon Hashem, and related to them only vis a vis the opportunities for Mitzvos that they provided.

Similarly, R’ Hirsch comments that when the Torah speaks in the third person, as in “VaYigdal HaIsh”, it is referring to the perspective of others, rather than the person himself, in this case the residents of Geror who saw the unnatural success of Yitzchok and became jealous.

But perhaps the Torah is also telling us that Yitzchok himself did not relate to his riches on a personal level. He saw them as yet another manifestation of the Ratzon Hashem, just as he viewed everything else in the world. He did not let his newfound success and riches affect his own life, as if they had been given to someone else, a generic Ish.

Although we may not all be able to live a life of total Gevurah, as did Yitzchok, we still must ask ourselves “Mosai Yigiu Ma’asi L’Masei Avosai”, and strive to lead lives that represent his ideals. Perhaps this Parsha allows us a glimpse of a Middah that we can each adapt on our own level: the acceptance of our personal situations, whether good or less than good, as nothing other than the Ratzon Hashem. To Yitzchok Avinu, the nature of his circumstances did not alter his recognition of the Yad Hashem one iota. If we attempt to adopt this worldview, and an attitude of total Hisbatlus to the Ratzon HaBorei we too can be Zoche to the Birchas Hahsem.